Working while on childcare allowance
How much you may earn alongside Austrian childcare allowance (Kinderbetreuungsgeld), how the health insurer calculates it and what going over costs.
Alongside the flat-rate childcare allowance account (Kinderbetreuungsgeld-Konto) you may earn up to €18,000 per calendar year in 2026, or more if your individual limit is higher: 60 % of your income in the last calendar year before the birth without childcare allowance, first increased by 30 %. On the earnings-related scheme the limit is €8,600, and unemployment benefit is not allowed at all during the claim. Only the parent currently claiming is assessed, each calendar year separately, and only months in which allowance was paid on every day. The health insurer annualises your taxable pay excluding special payments (Lohnsteuerbemessungsgrundlage, gross minus social insurance), deducts at least €132 of work expenses and adds 30 %. On the account that limit equals €1,164 of taxable pay a month, about €1,372 gross. Holiday and Christmas bonuses are not counted. Going over means repaying exactly the excess (Einschleifregelung, a gradual clawback): with €1,300 of monthly taxable pay that is €2,108.40. A clawback can also cost both parents their €500 partnership bonus.
Earnings alongside childcare allowance in 2026
Within the limit
€0
| Earnings limit | €18,000 |
| Headroom | €9,000 |
Anything above the limit is reclaimed (gradual clawback).
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
The 2026 limits at a glance
| allowance account | earnings-related | |
|---|---|---|
| Limit per calendar year | €18,000 or individually 60.0 % of earlier income | €8,600 |
| monthly taxable pay at a steady salary | €1,164 | about €562.28 |
| unemployment benefit alongside | counts as earnings (× 1.15) | not allowed |
| if exceeded | repay the excess | repay the excess |
Both limits apply only to the parent currently receiving the allowance; what the other parent earns is irrelevant. If you take turns, each parent has a limit based on their own income. A partner’s full-time salary therefore never reduces the allowance of the parent at home.
The individual limit on the account
If you earned well before the birth, the allowance account lets you earn more than €18,000. The basis is the tax assessment for the last calendar year before the birth in which you received no childcare allowance, going back at most to the third year before. Employment income after work expenses is multiplied by 1.3, unemployment benefit by 1.15, and 60.0 % of the total is your limit. Without an assessment the limit is €18,000, so newcomers without an Austrian assessment start from that figure.
| Income in the relevant year | individual limit |
|---|---|
| €20,000 | €18,000.00 |
| €25,380 | €19,796.40 |
| €35,000 | €27,300.00 |
| €50,000 | €39,000.00 |
Once set, the limit stays the same for the whole claim; if the tax assessment changes, you can ask for a recalculation. The insurer states it in the notice confirming your entitlement when the assessment already exists, which for employees often requires an employee tax return.
How actual earnings are calculated
- Count the qualifying months. Only calendar months in which allowance was paid on every single day. If your claim ends on the 15th, that month is ignored.
- Add up taxable pay. For each qualifying month, taxable pay excluding special payments: gross minus employee social insurance.
- Annualise. Divide by the number of qualifying months, multiply by twelve, subtract work expenses (at least €132), multiply by 1.3.
If the result is below your limit, you are fine. For self-employed income the annual profit is increased by 30.0 %; only with interim accounts for the claim period, filed by the end of the second following year, does the profit of those months alone count.
Daily rate on the childcare account
per day
€30.03
| per month (30 days) | €901 |
| total | €15,015 |
| days used | 500 |
The gradual clawback in practice
A mother returns to part-time work (Elternteilzeit) after maternity leave and has €1,300 of taxable pay every month of the year, with no individual limit. Annualised: (€1,300 × 12 − €132) × 1.3 = €20,108.40. That is €2,108.40 above €18,000, and exactly this amount is reclaimed. If you can see the limit coming, you may waive the allowance in advance for whole calendar months. The other parent then cannot claim for those months either, and with a steady monthly salary a waiver hardly helps because the average stays the same.
The year you go back to work
Because only qualifying months count, the year your claim ends is often easier than expected. Example: allowance until 15 October, part-time work from July with €900 of taxable pay a month. Qualifying months are January to September, since October was not covered on every day. Of those 9 months, six had no pay and three had €900. Annualised that is €4,508.40, far below €18,000, and the full salary from October is ignored. Had the same pay run all year, the figure would be €13,868.40. What matters is the average over the qualifying months of the calendar year; the next year starts afresh.
What counts and what does not
- Counts: pay from employment and mini-jobs, profit from self-employment, business or farming, foreign income, pensions, unemployment benefit, emergency assistance, leftover holiday paid after maternity pay.
- Does not count: 13th and 14th salary and other special payments under section 67, family allowance, maintenance, childcare allowance, maternity pay, severance pay, care allowance, student grants, tax-free income.
The €8,600 limit on the earnings-related allowance leaves room for a marginal job but rarely for real part-time work. On the account, a part-time job up to about €1,372 gross fits.
Partnership bonus and clawbacks
If parents split the allowance between 50:50 and 60:40 and each claims at least 124 days, each receives a one-off €500. Apply no later than 124 days after the maximum entitlement period ends. If allowance is reclaimed because of excess earnings and one parent drops below 124 days or out of the ratio, both bonuses must be repaid.